After spending time with a single stage, I made the right choice with my Dillon

Hi...
I think both types of presses have their place.
I use both an RCBS RockChucker, two Hornady LnLs and am hearing up to run one or two Dillon 550s.
My son runs rifle rounds and .375SuperMag on a RockChucker Supreme and all of our semi automatic pistol rounds and .357Mag on my two Hornady progressive presses.
I run all of our big bore revolver rounds on my RockChucker as well as doing whatever small lots for load development I want.
I am setting up one Dillon for large primer to run big bore revolver rounds. I will either sell the other 550 or set it up for .38Spl exclusively. Still undecided about that.

Considering getting a turret press as well...just for something new to work with.

I started loading two years ago and went straight to a Dillon 550B. I too really think it's a nice machine. Don't get me wrong, I had a few kinks to work out, but it wasn't anything terrible. I'm also not saying it's better or worse than any other progressive, as I have no experience to pull from, just that the 550 is nice and I enjoy using it.

One of the things I like is that you can rotate one round at a time through the various stations if for some reason you feel the need. No idea if that produces the same quality as a single stage or not, but if you are dealing with long cases, I can see it of being a benefit to reduce stress on those cases and ease of loading. I'd probably choose to hand charge my rounds though if doing that rather than using the throw.

Glad you like yours. I do as well.

460Shooter said:

One of the things I like is that you can rotate one round at a time through the various stations.....

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Dillion's are great for bulk work, but one reason to go with the Hornady LnL AP is the dies can be put in one at a time, effectively creating a single stage press.

I love the pair of Dillon 650 presses I have on the bench. One large primer, one small primer, or in real life, one .45 ACP and one 9mm.

I'm somewhere around 20k rounds loaded this year. I haven't quite made my goal of shooting 500 rounds a week this year. There were some really wet weeks where I couldn't get to the range.

Both presses have case collators, I feed bullets in by hand. This allows me to have an RCBS Lock-out die on the tool heads. That die saved my butt a couple of times this year.

alfsauve said:

Dillion's are great for bulk work, but one reason to go with the Hornady LnL AP is the dies can be put in one at a time, effectively creating a single stage press.

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Is there an effective difference between the two methods? I'm asking from inexperience, not advocating one way or the other.

You wasted you money on the RCBS. A VERY, VERY good shooter by the name of Tubb, loaded his stuff on a Dillon 550

GE-Mini-Gun said:

You wasted you money on the RCBS. A VERY, VERY good shooter by the name of Tubb, loaded his stuff on a Dillon 550

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Gee, what a nice thing to say.

It's his money. If he's happy that's what matters.

I’ve used a Dillon 550 since 1982 or there bouts. But I also have a Lyman TMag Turret, which predates the Dillon, with the Lyman 55 Powder Measure, A Lee Classic Turret with their disc powder measure and a Lee bottom of the line single stage.

They all have their uses and they all get used.

The only .223 rifle I own is a Remington 700 Heavy barrel target rifle. I sort my Lake City brass and match HPBT bullets by weight and load batches of .223 of the same case and bullet weight on my Dillon 650.

I have loaded target rounds on my Rock Chucker tweaking every last parameter for accuracy and I can not find a statistical difference between the Rock Chucker ammo and the Dillon ammo. Once I worked up the load that my 700 really loves it gives me excellent results regardless of the press the ammo is loaded on. Loading target ammo on the Dillon is not nearly as fast as loading plinking ammo on the Dillon but it is still a heck of a lot faster than loading it on the RockChucker! For target ammo each case makes two or three trips through the press depending on if it needs to be trimmed or not.

I mostly use my Rock Chuck for case forming but do load some calibers on it that I do not shoot very often and don't want to dedicate (pay for) all the Dillon caliber conversion parts for.

I find it hard to call money that is spent on a reloading press that gives joy wasted...

My wife does not share that opinion.

460Shooter said:

Is there an effective difference between the two methods? I'm asking from inexperience, not advocating one way or the other.

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The difference between Dillion's Tool Head and Hornady's Lock 'n Load is with Hornady you insert each die separately. So you can effectively make the Hornady a single stage, single operation. Or a dual operation. Or any combination. Each die has its own twist and lock bushing so once adjusted you just do a twist-lock to put in or take out the die. While I think Dillion's are great I prefer the flexibility of the Hornady.

An example. When loading new 9mm brass, I put all dies in the press and load away. But when I'm reloading used brass, I put only the resizing die in, resize all the brass then perform a chamber check. Then put the other dies in and do the rest of loading. It is the experimenter's flexibility that the Hornady system has.

I read for a long time about what I wanted. I finally decided on my first press ever. Dillon xl650.

Bought it from Brian enos when he was drop shipping them from Dillon as a vendor.

Load 380,9mm,45acp,44mag.
Id say it's been about four years, maybe five I've had it. Love it!

Say 13-15lbs of titegroup, 2lbs of power pistol, 6-8lbs of bullseye, 4lbs of 231, 2lbs of h110 all through the 650. 8lb er of sport pistol just cracked. Maybe 3/4 lb used.

I have a single stage but all I did on it was some self teaching and never really made a go of it. My average range trip with the wife is 400 rounds a week with 600 not being out of the norm. Volume with great accuracy for my calibers and distances my eyes allow me to shoot

I started handloading way back in 1980 for just one gun, a S&W Model 19. The press I had back then was a Bonanza "68" single stage press and it served very well. Back then there was no internet or forums to go to for quick enlightenment and back then everyone I talked with told me to stay far away from progressive presses. I guess they have come a long way since then.

After my 3rd child life to a terrible turn and I got out of shooting until just recently again. Having experience using a single stage and knowing I was again only loading for pistols I knew I didn't want to do it again on a single stage so I first started looking at turret presses and was sure that was the way to go. That was until I came across a Lee Pro1000 used that was lightly used and complete for less than $100.00... So I read all I could on the forums and watched every video I could tolerate. Feeling I had a firm grasp on the pitfalls and advantages I bought it. For me it has worked out very well and I haven't had nearly any of the many faults many have. Now again if this press wouldn't have come along at the price I got it for I probably would have bought a Lee turret press.

I find it good to hear that you have found what works for you and can differentiate the difference between a production progressive and a working single stage. They both have a place on a bench and both have greatly different advantages. I now have a single stage press, a turret press and two different progressive presses and use them all.

Erief0g said:

I read for a long time about what I wanted. I finally decided on my first press ever. Dillon xl650.

Bought it from Brian enos when he was drop shipping them from Dillon as a vendor.

Load 380,9mm,45acp,44mag.
Id say it's been about four years, maybe five I've had it. Love it!

Say 13-15lbs of titegroup, 2lbs of power pistol, 6-8lbs of bullseye, 4lbs of 231, 2lbs of h110 all through the 650. 8lb er of sport pistol just cracked. Maybe 3/4 lb used.

I have a single stage but all I did on it was some self teaching and never really made a go of it. My average range trip with the wife is 400 rounds a week with 600 not being out of the norm. Volume with great accuracy for my calibers and distances my eyes allow me to shoot

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I usually research anything I buy quite extensively... my gf claims I can't buy toilet paper without researching all the options first. My Dillon 650xl is one that I just stumbled into though. A buddy of mine and his wife had an accident that ended his reloading career (twin girls). He talked me into buying his Dillon 650xl from him for what I later discovered was a ridiculously low price. Almost 30 years later now I still have and love my 650xl... but the collection of die heads, conversion kits and accessories has grown considerably over the years! I have never regretted buying my 650xl or any of the related extras for a minute!

I hope you get as much good use out of yours that I have gotten out of mine! P.S. Someday a 1050xl might look really tempting... but a 650xl is a much wiser choice for a multi-caliber reloader in my opinion. I wouldn't have half the caliber conversions that I have for my 650 if I had given into temptation and upgraded to a 1050.

I do all my loading on a turret press and find that the Dillon, which I crave, will not work for me. With all the range brass that I use exclusively, taking the brass on and off the 550 to trim etc, makes the whole thing not worth it … to me.

GE-Mini-Gun said:

You wasted you money on the RCBS. A VERY, VERY good shooter by the name of Tubb, loaded his stuff on a Dillon 550

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I lack a sufficient number of hands to facepalm adequately at this post.

@Typetwelve , FWIW, I think ya done good. Whatever combination of hardware suits your needs is the best hardware there is, regardless of make.

I have two Dillons, a Rock Chucker, and a Lee LCT all mounted up on the bench right now, and I love 'em all; they all fill the specific need for which they were purchased.

Enjoy your setup!

Typetwelve, your setup is similar to mine. I use a Rock Chucker for loading rifle rounds for my bolt guns and general utility. I load pistol rounds, 223 and 300 BO on my 550b. I really don't see a reason not to have a single stage press especially when they can easily be had used. I got my Rock Chucker at a gun show for less than the cost of one cartridge conversion kit for the Dillon. I have an Inline Fabrication flush mount on my bench so it really doesn't take up any extra space.

alfsauve said:

The difference between Dillion's Tool Head and Hornady's Lock 'n Load is with Hornady you insert each die separately. So you can effectively make the Hornady a single stage, single operation. Or a dual operation. Or any combination. Each die has its own twist and lock bushing so once adjusted you just do a twist-lock to put in or take out the die. While I think Dillion's are great I prefer the flexibility of the Hornady.

An example. When loading new 9mm brass, I put all dies in the press and load away. But when I'm reloading used brass, I put only the resizing die in, resize all the brass then perform a chamber check. Then put the other dies in and do the rest of loading. It is the experimenter's flexibility that the Hornady system has.

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Yes, I understand the functional difference in how they operate and what the two presses can do. I mean is there an effective difference on the end result of the ammo being loaded. Does using a Hornady LNL as a single stage produce better quality or consistency in loaded ammo versus rotating one cartridge at a time around a Dillon shell plate, or just going full on progressive?

I guess it's perhaps a bigger question as to the benefits of single stage versus progressive loading. I can see a more consistent powder charge being a benefit if using a progressive press as a single stage if hand charging for extreme consistency being a benefit. I know some long range shooters go down to only a few flakes difference for their purposes. But are there other benefits in the end product between presses used in a single stage way?

GE-Mini-Gun said:

You wasted you money on the RCBS. A VERY, VERY good shooter by the name of Tubb, loaded his stuff on a Dillon 550

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A VERY VERY good mentor and source of knowledge for all things reloading named rcmodel, loaded his stuff on a single stage.
Nough said.

I have single stage presses, a Lee turret press, and a Dillon 550.
They all have their place.

my first press was a reffing t7 turret for a few months then went to a dillon 550b. hapy to have gone progressive right away.

460Shooter said:

I guess it's perhaps a bigger question as to the benefits of single stage versus progressive loading.

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I suppose the argument can be made that with a single stage process all your attention is focused on each step, one at a time. While with progressive you're keeping track of 3, 4, or 5+ processes all at one time.

For me it's a question of steps I want to take off-press, like chamber checking or tumbling resized brass.